Renting a holiday house in the Riviera with a small child

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We are usually traveling with our 3 year old kids. In all other area's of France we just go unprepared. Finding either a bed & breakfast or a holiday rental is relatively easy and in the summer we just go camping. This is not the case in the south of France, especially in the summer months.

I have good experiences with Google maps and Tripadvisor to secure holiday rentals ahead of time. The trick with google maps is strait forward. You first identify the area you want to go by just zooming in our out. Then type either holiday rental, self catering apartment, or gites.

There is a Dutch website aimed at parents with very small children, called petitparadis. This specific site does not have an english translation (other then the automatic Google translate), but being part of eurocamp, you can pinpoint their suggestion on their Dutch page and look for the details on the eurocamp.co.uk site. For the Riviera they suggest La Baume.

Be aware that during the summer holidays, the temperature during the day can be quite high and with lots of sun and small kids you are pinned to your apartment for the better part of the afternoon to prevent extensive sun exposure. Personally I would say that the south of France with small kids is better to visit earlier or later in the season. In hindsight I rather went to the Ardeche last summer.

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Since this area is very touristy, not speaking French is not a major problem. You shall find people speaking a least bit of English in most places.

I do not really know a place to stay that would be more kid-friendly (how old is the kid, do you expect specific facilities such as playground near the place?). Since you will need a car to move around anyway, maybe you'd prefer to go more in the back-country for a more peaceful environment (avoid Juan-les-Pins/Antibes in this case and drive there just to go to the beach).

I can tell there are nice things to do in the area with kids, especially Marineland and some other parks around.

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